This invention relates to a disposable vacuum cleaner bag for use with top loading upright vacuum cleaners and a fully automated method for forming such bags.
Disposable vacuum cleaner bags have been made which are comprised of a tube portion which leads air and collected dust into another larger air pervious tube, or collection chamber. The tube portion may be made from an air pervious or air impervious material, while the collection chamber is of an air pervious material. These bags are inserted into a cloth, vinyl, felt or other outer bag attached to a sweeper tank and, when full, the inner bag may be disposed of without dust problems associated with cleaners which do not use disposable bags.
Many upright cleaners which use such disposable bags are of a bottom loading design. Such bottom loading cleaners are disadvantageous in that the cleaner must force its air stream upwardly through previously collected dirt in the bag. In order to alleviate the problem, somewhat, with the bottom loading cleaners, vacuum cleaner bags have been developed which connect a transfer tube to the cleaner at a bottom connection, which transfer tube leads to a main collection bag compartment where the dirt is fed near the top and falls to the bottom of the collection compartment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,041, for example, a bottom connection, but top loading design is shown, wherein the two sections are attached together only along the apertures which are formed in the two sections for passage of air flow from the transfer chamber to an air pervious or dust collection section. Such a design is an improvement over bottom loading designs because a cleaner air stream does not have to flow through previously collected dirt. Prevalent top loading, but bottom connection, bag designs have a transfer tube which attaches to the dirt inlet duct of the vacuum cleaner near the bottom of the cleaner. The dirty air stream then blows up the transfer tube and through a window area between the transfer tube and the collection bag and then falls down into the collection bag. There are, however, two fundamental problems associated with such a bag design. One is that there is a tendency for the flexible duct member in the cleaner itself to collapse and cause clogging; and, secondly, it is possible for the consumer to improperly attach the bag to the cleaner. Indeed, this occurs often and results in bag failure and cleaner malfunction. The improper attachment occurs when the consumer folds the transfer tube into a U-shape before installing the bag, thus placing the bag, into the carrier, upside down.
In an attempt to overcome these problems associated with a bottom connection but top loading bag, cleaners have been designed which are top loading and top connection cleaners. Bags designed for use with such top loading cleaners overcame the above described problems, but also have caused problems of their own. Such bags require a transfer tube which attaches to the cleaner inlet duct and leads from the top of the bag to the cooperating apertures in the transfer tube and another section or collection bag. In order to produce the bags on fully automated equipment, the transfer tube must extend the full length of the collection bag. Since the window is near the top of the transfer tube, the entire lower section of the transfer tube would pack with dirt before dirt would flow through the window into the collection bag. In order to overcome this problem, the use of a short closed end bag or transfer tube was proposed, in combination with the collection bag, with the closed end bag having a hole in one wall communicating with the aperture in the wall of the collection bag. Use of such short bags, however, still left a small pocket below the windows which would fill with dirt. A further problem with such a short bag transfer tube--collection bag combination, however, is that such a configuration requires three separate production operations. In one operation, the main bag body or collection bag is produced on one machine; in a second operation, the transfer tube or short bag section is produced on a second machine; and, in a third operation, the collection bag and the transfer tube, or short bag, are joined together on a third machine. The additional waste of these multiple operations, coupled with low production rates and numerous handling operations, make such a composite bag design expensive to produce and limits its availability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel vacuum cleaner bag for use with top loading upright vacuum cleaners.
It is another object of this present invention to provide a fully automated method for producing vacuum cleaner bags for use with top loading upright vacuum cleaners.